


Could My Soulmate Please Take A Nap

by Aria_Lerendeair



Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2020 [10]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec catches the flu, Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, Human AU, M/M, Mentions of bad Lightwood parents, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: Magnus is fighting off a cold that his soulmate has (since whoever she or he is, they don't know about the concept of staying home to rest).Trudging through school would be tough enough - if he didn't also have to deal with Alec Lightwood - who seems determined to always find some sort of fault with him.Except... Alec seems to be feeling a little under the weather...
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016725
Comments: 22
Kudos: 599





	Could My Soulmate Please Take A Nap

**Author's Note:**

> the-ghost-of-william-herondale prompted: aria are sickfics fluffy enough for a fluff ficlet because i will never turn down an opportunity to ask for sickfic fluff ;~; like imagine... OH WHAT IF SOULMATES?? like alec isn't feeling well and magnus knows so magnus takes advantage of their soulbond to do something sweet for alec? my thoughts are so scattered right now rip if i need to give you a more specific prompt lemme know i love you okay bye
> 
> oKAY SO THIS WASN’T QUITE WHAT YOU ASKED FOR CAUSE I DECIDED TO DO IT AS A GET-TOGETHER, BUT IT STILL WORKS I THINK.
> 
> ALSO I LOVE YOU TOO AND YOU ARE TOO SWEET FOR WORDS. 
> 
> And this is the second of the two fics that Twitter asked to be posted first! More fics coming soon!! Gotta finish posting the Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash fics before the Magnus Bane Birthday Bash starts up....

Magnus woke up miserable. 

  
He groaned and rolled out of bed, rubbing at his forehead. He stumbled to the bathroom and barely managed to take a shower, almost collapsing into bed at the end of it. He yawned and took his temperature. 

  
Regular. 

  
_Dammit._ That meant his soulmate was the one that was sick. Magnus looked at the soulmark on his bare wrist, the bow and arrow that had darkened to black ever since he had moved to Idris, and sighed, flopping back on the bed. 

  
Well, hopefully, his soulmate would at least stay home and get some rest today and he’d feel better tomorrow. 

  
Magnus levered himself out of bed with a grunt and headed for his closet. If he was going to be feeling like shit all day, he was going to dress _comfortable_ and no one was going to stop him. Loungewear and eyeliner. He could manage that. He could. 

  
~!~

  
Whoever his soulmate was had apparently taken some medicine because he felt a little less like he was dying once he got into the car and headed for school. His head still felt like it was full of cotton, but he felt less like he wanted to slip into sleep every few seconds. Magnus yawned and adjusted the cuff around his wrist before grabbing his backpack and trudging towards the school. 

  
With a little bit of luck, he wouldn’t run into-

  
“Bane!” 

  
Magnus sighed, clenched his eyes shut, and turned around to level a glare at Alec Lightwood who was rapidly striding towards him. "What?“ he snapped, watching as Alec seemed to stumble at his sharp rejoinder. 

  
Alec raised both of his eyebrows and frowned. "What’s wrong?” 

  
Magnus took a deep breath and glared at Alec, who liked to take every single opportunity to give him shit about his clothes, his eyeliner, his, _his everything._ And if he hadn’t seen first-hand just how hard Alec worked on his grades and knew that they were both competing for top grades in the school, he would have hated him a lot more. "I don’t feel good,“ he announced. "Feel like shit, actually, and I’m honestly not up for any of your bullshit today. So if you could just-”

  
Magnus blinked in surprise and frowned as Alec took his arm and tugged him into an empty classroom. He scowled and blinked in the too bright lights until Alec flicked them off, leaving the room dark except for the windows on the far side of the room. He sighed in relief. 

  
“Why are you even at school?” Alec asked, frowning at him. "If you’re sick, you should stay home. You can’t risk spreading it among-“ 

  
Magnus sighed and pressed his fingers to his temple, his head starting to pound. "If, _Lightwood,_ I was the one feeling like absolute death between the tiredness, headache, mild nausea, fever, and stuffy nose? I would, most definitely, be home. But I’m not.” 

  
Alec blinked, his mouth dropping open, his eyes flicking to the cuff on Magnus’ wrist. "Your soulmate is sick.“ 

  
"My soulmate,” Magnus growled, glaring at him. "Has a fucking cold, whoever he or she is, and since I can’t tell them to get their ass back into bed, I have to suffer through this.“ 

  
Alec blinked again, and stared at Magnus, his eyes widening. "I, you should still go home. Today is going-”

  
“I’ll survive,” Magnus muttered, glaring at Alec. "Just do me a favor and leave me the hell alone today, all right? I don’t have time for you to pick on whatever the hell your choice of today is.“ 

  
Glad that Alec didn’t say anything in response, Magnus yanked open the door to the classroom, shutting it behind him as he swayed on his feet and headed down the hallway for his locker. He clenched his jaw. He just needed to get through today and then he could go home and rest, sleep for several hours. 

  
He didn’t see Alec Lightwood sink into a chair and cover his face with a hand before he sneezed, _very_ pointedly. 

  
~!~

  
By the fourth period, Magnus was ready to break into the principal’s office and steal the announcement system for the _two_ minutes that it would take to order his soulmate, whoever the fuck they were, to Go. _Home._ He could barely focus on what any of his teachers were saying, and he knew that he was already going to need to beg Ragnor for notes from Chem, because there was no way that he had scribbled down anything remotely coherent. 

  
Magnus sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t even _take_ anything for the cold, because he wasn’t the one sick, and it was easy to feel the medicine that his soulmate had taken was wearing off. He turned a corner and blinked in surprise at the sight of Alec Lightwood standing at his locker. He sighed and sagged. Of course Alec wouldn’t leave him alone today. Of _course_ he wouldn’t. 

  
"Magnus,” Alec said, blinking hard, frowning when the air around Magnus seemed to shimmer before he was able to focus on Magnus properly. It didn’t help that Magnus was wearing loose black pants and a comfy-looking red shirt that was too big on him but looked so comfy and _beautiful,_ and…

  
Magnus scowled and raised an eyebrow, glaring at the other boy. "What the hell do you want, Lightwood? Don’t you have class?“ 

  
Alec blinked slowly, turning to look down the hallway. He did have Advanced Calculus, but the idea of going into that room and trying to make his brain work felt impossible. He’d wanted to be near Magnus, so of course here he was. Like an idiot. "Yeah,” he managed, blinking hard. "I do.“ 

  
Magnus frowned, grabbing the books that he needed from the locker as Alec didn’t add anything further, just remained there, leaning heavily against the lockers. He turned to study Alec properly and he could see his cheeks were flushed and his eyes looked worryingly glassy. The crowds of kids were thinning around them, so he waited for Alec to meet his eyes before daring to venture a question. 

  
"Alec?” Magnus asked, reaching out to touch his arm. "Are you all right?“ 

  
Alec hissed at the cool touch of Magnus’ fingertips. He wanted to press his whole body against Magnus if that’s how cool he felt. It was too good, that’s exactly what he wanted. He cleared his throat and tried to force himself upright, but he stumbled and leaned against the lockers again, the hallway starting to swim. "Magnus…” he managed, trying to make his mouth work. _"…agnus…“_

  
Alec closed his eyes right as he heard Magnus’ voice raise, calling him a little louder. He leaned forward, deciding that he’d take the risk. Maybe Magnus would at least break his fall a little. 

  
**"Shit!”** Magnus swore, dropping his books as Alec swayed on his feet and then pitched forward, his whole body going limp. He caught Alec easily and looked around him at the kids staring. "Someone call the fucking nurse!“ he growled, keeping Alec’s dead weight supported enough until he could kneel on the ground, brushing some of the hair out of Alec’s face. 

  
His breathing was shallow and now that Magnus was touching his forehead, he could feel that Alec was running a high fever. Alec whimpered at the touch of his hand, so Magnus didn’t move it away, except to switch hands. "Alec?” Magnus called, brushing some hair off of his face. "Alec, can you hear me?“ 

  
Magnus closed his eyes, fighting down the wave of nausea and weakness that washed over him and cursed his sick soulmate. Dammit, Alec needed help. Magnus blinked slowly, focusing on the nurse as soon as she was kneeling by them both. "He’s running a fever,” Magnus managed to tell her. "He passed out, he was having trouble standing upright.“ 

  
"All right,” the nurse said. "I’m going to need your help carrying him. Can you take his other side?“ 

  
"Of course,” Magnus said, and between the both of them, they got Alec up and started getting him down the hallway to the nurse’s office. Once they were there, he fought the urge to sway on his feet as the nurse called a doctor from Urgent Care. He looked down at Alec, pale and looking exhausted on the bed, and swayed closer to him. 

  
“Idiot,” he muttered when he pressed his hand to Alec’s forehead again, watching him relax like he had before. Magnus blinked slowly. Alec’s bed looked fucking comfy and if anyone asked, he’d make up some excuse. He didn’t care, he was too damn tired after carrying Alec's heavy ass to the nurse's office. 

  
Magnus clambered into the bed on the opposite side and shifted, pressing his hand to Alec’s forehead again, his own eyes drifting shut as Alec started to snore quietly. He was going to make fun of Alec for this for ages. He’d never let him live down…

  
Magnus was asleep before he could finish the thought. 

  
~!~

  
“….both _exhausted,_ letting them rest…”

  
“….gave him an IV, his fever was too high…” 

  
“…need to move them, they can’t stay here…”

  
Magnus barely managed to blink himself awake when the voices in the room kept talking. He scowled, but they didn’t stop. He opened his eyes and saw that it looked like Alec now had an IV hooked up to him, and there was a doctor standing with the nurse in the office, the two of them whispering together. He turned and pressed his face to Alec’s shoulder, smiling in relief when it didn’t seem like his skin was radiating heat any longer. That had seemed more than a little dangerous. 

  
“Magnus? Are you awake?” 

  
Magnus blinked his eyes open and focused on the nurse on the other side of Alec. He grunted at her, blinking hard to try and focus. "Yeah,“ he managed. 

  
"Alec needs to be moved to the hospital,” she said. "Just as a precautionary measure. The EMTs are waiting outside.“ 

  
Magnus narrowed his eyes and pressed in closer to Alec. He wasn’t going to leave Alexander, not like this. He _very_ carefully didn’t look closer at just why that was, but he wasn’t going to let them near Alec. Alec needed him. 

  
She smiled softly. "No one is going to try to separate the both of you, but we need to keep Alec’s fever down or it could hurt him.” 

  
Magnus closed his eyes and pressed his face to Alec’s shoulder again, breathing in deep before he gave a small nod. "I go with him,“ he muttered. 

  
"I know, dear,” she soothed. "You should have filed the paperwork sooner, then we wouldn’t have all of this red tape.“ 

  
Magnus barely spared a moment to understand what she was talking about before both he and Alec were being picked up and moved onto a gurney. Alec whined, sweat breaking out on his forehead and Magnus wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him carefully. 

  
"He’s going to be okay.” 

  
Magnus blinked again, slow and uncoordinated, staring up at the EMTs who were bringing them to the hospital. Alec had better be okay, because he needed to mock Alec for this forever! And then lecture him about staying home, especially when Alec had tried to give him the same lecture that morning! 

  
When Alec made a small noise, low in his throat, a whimper of pain, Magnus snapped awake, all of his attention focused on the sound. "Alec?“ he rasped, his voice hoarse. "Alec, are you okay?” 

  
“He’ll be fine,” one of the EMTs said. "He’s just in a lot of pain from the fever. The closer you stay to him, the easier he’ll be able to rest.“ 

  
Magnus squinted at that, because there was something about that that didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but staying pressed close to Alec was something that sounded like the best idea, so that is exactly what he did as he drifted off again. 

  
~!~

  
When Magnus woke up again, the lights in the room were bright and he squinted at them in annoyance. _"Lights,”_ he growled. He made a happy noise when they were abruptly lowered in brightness and he curled up closer to Alec again. 

  
Then he realized that his mind was much clearer than it had been before and he was curled up with _Alec._

  
He sat up in shock, looking around the hotel room. Alec made a plaintive noise beside him and Magnus felt Alec’s fingers lock around his waist, tugging at him. Following the tug seemed like the most natural thing in the world, so he did, letting Alec pull him close again, until he was pressed up against Alexander. 

  
“He’s unlikely to let you go while the drugs go to work.” 

  
Magnus lifted his eyes up and relaxed at the sight of Catarina, his Mom’s best friend, standing on the other side of the bed. "Catarina,“ he whispered. 

  
She smiled faintly. "You’re both going to be perfectly fine. He’s just got a severe case of the flu, and he’s exhausted, so I doubt he’s been sleeping well." 

  
Magnus pressed in closer to Alexander at the news, and he wasn’t going to look too closely at exactly what that meant. He nodded and cleared his throat. "What happened?” 

  
Catarina raised her eyebrows. "You don’t know?“ 

  
Magnus shook his head and pressed his nose against Alec’s neck with a small happy noise. Alec smelled like medicine, but beneath it, there was that cologne that Alec had been wearing recently. "I don’t want to let go of him.” 

  
Catarina snorted. "Magnus, you need to look at your wrist.“ 

  
Magnus was about to snap that there was no point to that when he realized his cuff had been removed. He jolted in shock and looked up at her. "Catarina-”

  
“Woah, woah, relax,” Catarina said, approaching the bed. "You don’t want to wake Alec up with your panicking.“ 

  
Magnus swallowed and his eyes moved from the soulmark that was now shining gold instead of the black he’d become used to, back to her. "Wh, what…” 

  
Catarina smiled faintly. "The nurse removed both of your cuffs when she saw that you’d climbed into bed with Alec. Soulmates, especially ones who haven’t been found need to stay as close to each other as possible.“ 

  
Magnus nodded. He knew that, he’d _known_ that, but the idea that Alec could be his soulmate… He clenched his eyes shut and sighed, even as he pressed in closer to Alec’s neck. "He doesn’t like me, Cat. Hell, he, he hates me. I have to go before he wakes up.” 

  
Catarina raised a skeptical eyebrow. "First off, I very much doubt that he hates you. Secondly, I don’t think you could actually make it to the door if you tried to get away from him.“ 

  
Magnus hated how much she was right, especially when Alec made a quiet pained noise in his throat and continued to hold him close. He melted in as close as he could, nuzzling Alec’s neck. "I’m here,” he whispered, watching as the words landed and instantly soothed Alec, making him cease struggling. 

  
_“Exactly,”_ Catarina said. "I’ve gone ahead and filed the prelim paperwork so no one will try to separate you. He should wake up in a couple of hours after the medicine has had a chance to work. You should get some rest too.“ 

  
Magnus swallowed hard and nodded, tightening his arm around Alexander, holding him close. He could still feel Alec trembling faintly from the fever and focused all of his attention on Alec. "I’m here, Alexander,” he promised, even as his eyes dropped to the soulmate mark that was glowing on his wrist. The matching mark that Alec had on his. "I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.“ 

  
~!~ 

  
When Alec blinked awake, he was more comfortable than he could _ever_ remember being. He was warm, and all of the drugs had worn off, meaning that he would feel something closer to normal. He went to stretch and there was a grumpy noise against his neck. He froze, his eyes going wide as he realized there was also a possessive arm around his stomach. 

  
He clenched his eyes shut the second he recognized the shirt. **Fuck.** Magnus. Which meant that Magnus knew, now. 

  
Alec took a slow, deep breath, trying to fight down the panic that was swiftly rising. He had to get out of here. He had to cover his wrist and make sure Magnus didn’t know, that he didn’t find out. He’d make some excuse, it would be fine, and they could go back to fighting, and-

  
"I can feel you panicking,” Magnus muttered against Alec’s neck. "I know you’re disappointed, but I don’t know that either of us can move right now, so just deal with it.“ 

  
Alec swallowed, but his mouth was dry and he clenched his eyes shut, trying to breathe hard, because how could he even begin to explain? That this was what he wanted more than anything, but his parents, all of his family, everything that was going to keep them apart? Magnus deserved so much better than what little he could offer. "M'not disappointed,” he muttered, closing his eyes again. 

  
Magnus snorted and rolled his eyes. "You hate me. Of course you are.“ 

  
Alec sighed and forced himself to go through the herculean effort of turning himself around so he could face Magnus, leaning in so he could press their foreheads against each other, breathing hard. _"Don’t._ Hate you,” he repeated. 

  
“Alec,” Magnus started, huffing. "You make it a point to insult me every single morning we see each other. Hell, I would have called it flirting, but I know that you mean it-“

  
"Cause,” Alec said, breathing slowly, staying pressed against his soulmate. "If I didn’t, everyone would know how much I’d want you.“ 

  
A small whine broke out of Magnus’ throat when Alec admitted that. Of _course_ Alec didn’t want him as a soulmate. He bit down on his lip, but he still couldn’t move away, not when Alec was staring him down like this. "You didn’t have to be _mean,”_ he protested. "You could have just told me you didn’t want me and-“

  
"But I do,” Alec whispered, blinking his eyes slowly as he looked at Magnus. How was he even more beautiful up close? That shouldn't be possible. "More than anything. Always want to be close to you. Make you smile, make you laugh, you’re so _beautiful…“_

  
Magnus blinked in surprise at the onslaught of quiet compliments, staring in shock at Alec. "Why, but why do you-” 

  
_“Cause,”_ Alec said, huffing out the word, his eyes closing in exhaustion before they blinked open again, slow, meeting Magnus' eyes again. "M'family. They’d make you leave. Upset you. Mom and Dad especially. Want me to marry some woman. But I just want you. Always want you.“ 

  
All at once, several things started to make a great deal more sense and Magnus’ heart ached. He reached out and combed his fingers through Alec’s hair, watching his eyes widen in surprise. “You were _protecting_ me,” he said, watching Alec nod. 

  
“Can’t stay away,” Alec whispered. “Always want to be near you. You’re so magical, all your glitter and, and, _you.”_

  
Magnus giggled at the fumbled compliment and pressed their foreheads together, reaching out to take Alec’s hand, giving it a slow squeeze. “So you’re not sad I’m your soulmate?” 

  
Alec shook his head. “No. You’re _perfect._ Not good enough for you. Gonna try and be...better.” 

_  
“Oh.”_ Magnus closed his eyes and gave himself a few seconds to process that before opening his eyes again to look at Alec. “No more of the bullshit at school.” He tangled their fingers together, squeezing Alec’s hand. 

  
“Magnus,” Alec whispered. “You can’t, they’ll…” 

  
“They’re not,” Magnus growled, staring Alec down. “They can, they can say whatever they want, but they’re not, _you're_ not gonna get rid of me that easily.” 

  
“But…” Alec chewed on his lip, staring at the determined face Magnus was making. He sighed. “‘m sorry for how I’ve treated you.” 

  
Magnus nodded firmly leaning in to kiss Alec's forehead, watching as his eyes fluttered shut. “You’re forgiven. Now sleep. You’re exhausted.” 

  
Alec closed his eyes, tightening his hand around Magnus’. “You’ll stay?” he whispered, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. 

  
Magnus smiled and lifted their joined hands, pressing a kiss to the bow and arrow on Alec’s wrist that was glowing gold, just like this. “I’m staying, Alexander.” 

  
“Okay,” Alec whispered again, relaxing as the chill of the medicine started to sweep over him again. Magnus wasn’t going to leave. Magnus wasn’t scared away. Maybe…maybe he _would_ stay. 

  
~!~ 

  
Two days later, Magnus stood at his locker, his skin itching. He was still feeling a little sick, but much better than he had been. He smiled faintly as the itching abruptly stopped, which only meant one thing. 

  
“Bane!” 

  
Magnus turned to look at Alec who was stalking towards him in the hallway, a faint smirk on his lips, and his eyes bright. Already he could see people rolling their eyes, but enough were watching. He grinned as Alec stepped in close and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, yanking him into a kiss. 

  
The shocked shouts around them were worth the flu that he might end up with. 

  
Especially if Alec kept kissing him like he was the air he needed to breathe. 

  
_Especially_ then. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Criticisms welcome!
> 
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> 
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End file.
